Once seemingly invincible, the Kings have proven to be human after all against the resilient New Jersey Devils.

Mike Richards and the Kings take their third crack at closing out the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cupfinal Monday night in Los Angeles. "We’re a confident bunch,” said Richards.

By:Kevin McGranSports Reporter, Published on Sun Jun 10 2012

LOS ANGELES—Once seemingly invincible, the Los Angeles Kings have proven to be human after all.

They are subject to the same distractions at the office — text messages, queries as to where they are going after work — the rest of us are.

Their work, however, is trying to win the Stanley Cup, the first in the 45-year history of the franchise. The Kings are one win away, just as they’ve been for the past two games, when the distractions that come with being in the final finally got to them.

“You get a lot of texts and calls,” centre Mike Richards said Sunday at the Kings practice facility in El Segundo, Calif. “People want to come and be a part of it. At the same time it’s something you have to handle as a professional, limit distractions, focus on the game.”

Defenceman Drew Doughty said the Kings were guilty of not limiting the distractions.

“I think a lot of us before Game 4 were distracted with family members and friends, the Cup coming in the building. A lot of things we have to put aside,” said Doughty. “Family always comes first for everyone, but at this point of the year, the team has to come first.

“We’re a family in the room, on the ice. Right now we’re No. 1 in everyone’s mind.”

You could hardly blame the Kings for getting ahead of themselves after cruising through the first three rounds of the playoffs and winning the first three games of the final. They were 15-2 in the playoffs, one win from the Cup and one win from equalling the ’88 Oilers’ 16-2 mark for the best post-season record in NHL history.

Now, the Kings have lost the last two — the first time this post-season they’ve lost two in a row, and the first time they’ve lost on the road.

To some, it’s the first real test of the Kings’ character, the first true adversity they’ve faced.

“I wouldn’t agree with that,” said forward Simon Gagne. “I think we had a lot of it this year with the coaching change, battling to get to the playoffs. That takes a lot of character to get through that. We know how to deal with it. …

“We had to go into Vancouver and win Game 5, and Phoenix Game 5. Now we have another challenge in front of us. It’s going to be the first time we’re in the series 3-2. It will be a first challenge for us and we’ll take that, for sure.”

So the tables may well be turning. The Devils have scored four goals in two games against Jonathan Quick, who’d only allowed two in the first three games, both on weird deflections. The Devils are finally finding seams to make plays in the Kings zone.

Meanwhile, the Kings can’t seem to beat Martin Brodeur and have taken to running the veteran goaltender in an attempt to lure him into after-the-whistle scrums.

“I think they’re so close to winning the Stanley Cup that I’m sure it’s getting to them a little bit, to be able to have all these chances and not capitalize on them,” said Brodeur, a three-time Cup champion. “We’re looking to just stay alive. Got to win one more game.”

Now, the Devils are gaining confidence. They enter Game 6 Monday night with — again — the attitude of nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain. They are loose and feeling more optimistic now that the Kings’ road winning streak is dead.

The Devils are resilient when the pressure’s on: a remarkable 10-1 in Games 4-7 in this post-season. Suddenly, the feat the 1942 Maple Leafs pulled off — losing the first three of the Cup final, but winning the final four — doesn’t seem so impossible.

“We’re still alive, we have a chance,” said Brodeur. “It’s not a difficult thing to get yourself ready for games like that. Now it’s been two in a row. It drains you a lot, it takes a lot out of you, but it’s worth it. I think at the end of the day, that’s what the guys are concentrating on, getting themselves ready, leave everything out there. We’ll see where everything’s going to fall. Right now, we’re able to pull two tight games on our side, like they did in Game 1 and 2.”

“We could have packed it in two games ago. That’s the bottom line. But you see we have a bunch of resilient guys that want to try to make history and try to win the Stanley Cup. We’re not going to give up, not because of travel or anything, (nothing) is going to change the attitude of the guys.”

The Kings were asked if they were feeling any pangs of doubt.

“We’re a confident bunch,” said Richards. “We obviously wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have the confidence. It’s just a matter of playing hockey and getting better.

“We set out a goal at the beginning of the year to get better every game. We’re still playing, so we’re still hoping to get better.”

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